IMAGE: Light-abundant artwork graces the UNESCO building in the foreground and aptly highlights the site of the International Year of Light (IYL) opening ceremonies in Paris, with the Eiffel Tower providing an exclamation point in the background. (Image credit: SPIE)
On January 19 and 20, Paris was the scene of the opening ceremony for the International Year of Light 2015 (IYL 2015). SPIE described the events as they unfolded, and an excerpt is provided here:
IYL 2015 opening ceremony: Day 1
Paris, the City of Light, was home to opening ceremonies launching the United-Nations-declared International Year of Light and Light-Based Technologies (IYL 2015) this week (http://www.light2015.org). High-level speakers took the stage at UNESCO headquarters today to celebrate the many uses and roles of light in our lives.
Light is solar power installations and LEDs bringing light to remote communities; it is what enables instantaneous communication across the globe and into space via phones and computers; it is a source of artistic inspiration for visual artists and musicians, and plays a role in most of the world's theologies. Light is also the source of life, pointed out renowned Mexican architect Gustavo Avilés, saying, "Light is the sex act between Earth and the sky."
The launch is one of the first IYL 2015 events in an observance intended to raise awareness of the importance of light-based technologies in providing solutions to worldwide challenges in areas such as energy, education, communications, and health. SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics, is a Founding Partner of IYL 2015.
More than a thousand participants are in Paris for the two-day event, with speakers including international diplomats and decision-makers, Nobel laureates, CEOs, and science and industry leaders from across the globe.
Keynote lectures, symposia, and round-table discussions cover areas of basic science, innovative lighting solutions for society, light pollution, emerging trends in photonics, the Einstein Centenary, the role of light-based technologies in addressing global challenges, light in art and culture, the history of science, and science policy.
On Monday morning, Nobel Laureate Ahmed Zewail called for dialogue, not conflict, and vision and leadership to address the world's needs. Fellow Nobelist Steven Chu stressed the promise of solar power, and said there is "less than a 1-in-27-million chance that Earth's record hot streak is natural."Ziad Aldrees, Saudi Arabia's Ambassador and Permanent Delegate to UNESCO, harkened back to the scientific contributions of Ibn al-Haytham, whose seminal Book of Optics was written around 1015, and others working in the "Golden Age" of Muslim civilization.
The program featured several cultural and musical interludes, and the outside of the UNESCO building is lit by Finnish light artistKari Kola with a display entitled "Light is Here" reflecting the powerful elements of the Northern lights.
IYL 2015 opening ceremony: Day 2
Optical technologies for simple lighting, inexpensive eyeglasses, and solar power were among the many and varied applications of light celebrated during the second day of ceremonies this week at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris.
In a well-received and inspiring session on Light Solutions, three presenters described highly successful programs that are making huge improvements in quality of life in several areas of the world:
Illac Diaz told how A Liter of Light is using very low technology -- a plastic bottle filled with water and chlorine -- to create a 55-watt solar bulb powerful enough to light up a home while being environmentally friendly, inexpensive, and easy to make.
Martin Aufmuth described how OneDollarGlasses is changing lives by providing locally manufactured glasses at low cost to some of the approximately 150 million people worldwide who need prescription eyeglasses but cannot afford them -- and who may be unable to work to earn money without them. The program also teaches people in the community how to make the glasses, furthering opening the path out of the cycle of poverty.
Linda Wamune explained the SunnyMoney program, which provides solar-powered lights and chargers in African communities to enable more hours in the day for activities such as studying. Wamune said that the program is successful in part because the lights are sold rather than given away. People in Africa can afford such small technology devices, she said, and they place more value on what has been purchased, as the perception is that items that are given away are of lesser quality.
Future of Light panelist Sune Svanberg (Lund University) made the audience laugh with a slide explaining the few "simple" steps to winning a Nobel prize, and joined fellow panelists in describing future applications of light in healthcare, computing and wearable technologies, and research.
Panelist Naledi Pandor, South African Minister of Science and Technology, pointed out the disconnect between Africa and the rest of the world, saying that the continent is often excluded from initiatives that are nominally "global." The continent needs to raise its profile with well-crafted science policy, building human capital in a wide range of disciplines, and making sure researchers have academic freedom and the infrastructure to work, she said.
"Every closing is an opening," observed Maciej Nalecz, UNESCO Director of the Division of Science Policy and Capacity-Building -- the closing of IYL 2015 ceremonies are just the beginning of a year full of activities.
IYL 2015 was adopted by the United Nations to raise awareness of how optical technologies promote sustainable development and provide solutions to worldwide challenges in energy, education, agriculture, communications and health. With UNESCO as lead agency, IYL 2015 programs promote improved public and political understanding of the central role of light in the modern world while also celebrating noteworthy anniversaries in 2015 -- from the first studies of optics 1,000 years ago to discoveries in optical communications that power the Internet today. The IYL Global Secretariat is located at the Abdus Salam International Centre of Theoretical Physics (ICTP).
Founding Partners of IYL 2015 are the American Institute of Physics (AIP), the American Physical Society (APS), the Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft (DPG), the European Physical Society (EPS), the Abdus Salam International Centre of Theoretical Physics (ICTP), the IEEE Photonics Society (IPS), the Institute of Physics (IOP), Light: Science and Applications, the lightsources.org International Network, 1001 Inventions, The Optical Society (OSA) and SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics.
SOURCE: SPIE; http://spie.org/x112331.xml and http://spie.org/x112309.xml